Hiding Behind A Mask
by Hayashi Yuuki
Summary: REWRITTEN Natsume Aobara is labelled the ugliest student in the world. If not for her social skills, she would surely be hated by everyone. She is also incredibly smart. But she has a secret...


**Yuuki: Hey, I'm back again! Thanks to my lovely reviewers JandMbooklovers and Minn 971102, I'll be rewriting this story and continuing it! Thanks a lot, both of you!**

**Inner Yuuki: Yeah, yeah, hi and let get moving.**

"The top student of the year is…"

The silence that greeted that sentence was deafening. The heavy tension in the air built up as the teacher did not make any attempt to break the silence. The student looked up at the teacher, feeling a mix of hope and apprehension. Hoping that their efforts would have finally paid off, yet apprehensive at the thought of having the results they did not and will not desire. The tension went up another notch before the teacher finally - oh finally broke it.

"…Natsume Aobara!"

Of course, she had to break the other students' hope if finally surpassing the genius of the school too.

"Natsume, come on up." The teacher called out, gesturing for the student to come over.

Said girl stood up, straightening her blouse and skirt before walking up to the front of the class in a state of euphoria while savouring the sweet taste of victory for the umpteenth time ever since she entered the lovely school of Cairo College. Her jubilation soon ended when she spotted the forlorn faces of her fellow schoolmates, whom she treasure, very much. She looked at the in sympathy, silently asking them why they didn't ask her for tutorials. However, she already knew the answer.

Natsume wasn't a pretty girl; she definitely was not. The first glance at her would show a dark-haired, dark-skinned girl with a height of 170cm (A/N: is that considered tall? I really don't know, since I'm too young to go to college.) and an average figure, as well as okay looks. But, at a closer look, there were horrible rashes all over her arms and legs and her jet-black, shoulder-length hair hid a few scars that Natsume said she got from a biking accident when she was fifteen. Because of all this, people always stay at least two meters away from the poor girl, as if she had a horrible skin disease that was contagious, and that going near her would affect their looks.

However, this hardly deters Natsume and amazingly, she was one of the most popular students in Cairo College, rivaling those of the three top 'Most Wanted' guys in the school, Takushi Datsuke, Akashi Tenn. and Tsukasa Rui. She is definitely THE most popular girl in school, and everybody looks up to her, even those three guys. But although not in terms of beauty, Natsume is known for her warm and cheery personality and her heart of an angel.

As she was walking back to her seat after receiving the fruits of her labour and yet another congratulatory gift from Krystal, as everybody called the sweet teacher by, she caught the eye of Tsukasa Rui, who waved back cheerily at her. Natsume sighed internally. Even if she would never admit it, she had a small crush on the handsome boy with his golden-brown hairs and sharp features. Slowly but steadily, it had begun to blossom into something more, but sadly, he showed no interest in her and had started to show a lot more for other girls. Although they were slowly drifting apart, her feelings have never changed as, after all, he was the only person who did not mind being near her. She had lost her parents to a person who was hunting them down, and had watched them being killed at the young age of four. Not even she knows how she managed to escape, but that incident had deeply traumatized her. It was a miracle that she had become the warm and cheerful girl she is today. But secretly, she feels alone, especially at her mansion where nobody is there, and being inside the only thing her parents have ever left her, made her miss them all the more.

Just as Natsume was about to finally cave in and break down into tears, she shook her head clear of all these thoughts and waited for the school day to finish

…

_**DONG ~ DONG ~ DONG ~ DONG ~ DONG ~**_

The bell that signalled the end of the school day rang, and as soon as the teacher dismissed them from class, the students literally leapt out of their seats and rushed for the door, buzzing excitedly about what was going to happen tomorrow. '_Tomorrow? What's happening tomorrow?' _ thought Natsume as she heard the excited chatter. Suddenly, realisation dawned upon her. Every year after the students got their results to the End of Year(EOY) Examinations, there was going to be a ball for the students who were going to leave the school the next year, in other words, the Year Four students. _'How in the world could I have forgotten?' _Natsume berated herself before relaxing. _'Never mind, I'm not going anyway. I don't really feel like revealing my secret and I really don't want to embarrass myself by wearing gowns that will only make me look like a laughing-stock.'_

However, as she passed the lovely ballroom with its velvet carpets and crystal chalandiers(sp? I forgot what the spelling is. Can anybody tell me?), her wishes contradicted her earlier thoughts. '_God, it's _beautiful.' She considered for a moment, and a light bulb came on in her head. _'I got it! I can don't reveal my secret, and go to the ball without looking like a clown.' _ Feeling satisfied, Natsume hummed a tune while going back to her mansion to pick out a suitable evening gown.

Reaching her home, she picked out a gown in teal blue, with turquoise mother-of-pearl buttons and exquisite embroidery. She'd loved this evening gown even when she was young, as it was unique in terms of both colour and design. Fingering the satin softly, she called forth memories of her mother wearing this gown. She was as kind and as beautiful as an angel, and seeing her mother wear this gown just made Natsume want to wear it all the more. And now, Natsume finally had a chance to wear it. But now, she was overwhelmed with a sense of melancholy. _'I want to see her again…' _were Natsume's thoughts as tears pricked her eyes. She finally let a tear slide down her cheek as she let down her facade. She hugged her knees to herself and let her cheek rest upon the rosewood floor as she allowed herself to fall to the ground.

Natsume cried her heart out that night.

**Yuuki: FINALLY that's out. This is the rewritten version. Like it? Hate it? Please let me know. And no, this is not all of the previous eight chapters compiled, this is probably about…2 ~ 4 chapters? I don't know.**

**Inner Yuuki : Oh and this is in BRITISH English.**

_**Ja ne!**_

_**Signed,**_

_**Yuuki-chan**_


End file.
